BALI (Sputnik) – The fire started on Thursday, affecting 231 houses in the Penjaringan subdistrict of North Jakarta, The Jakarta Post reported on Friday.
The Warta Kota daily newspaper said that because of strong wind, firefighters experienced difficulties in putting out the blaze, which started after a gas cylinder explosion.
"It was difficult to extinguish because the wind was strong and the fire spread quickly to other houses," Satriadi Billy Gunawan, the head of the North Jakarta Firefighting Agency, said as quoted by the daily.
According to Gunawan, the fire left 277 families, or about 1,000 people homeless.